Although it can be argued that Alcibiades initiated the invasion, Athens’s would not have led a costly campaign to Sicily just because of one man. Furthermore, there was no need to spread Democracy to Sicily as Syracuse itself was using this ideology. Sparta led a campaign to Thrace in order to exploit the local mines and timber there, for their own benefit and as a way of weakening Athens. The Old Oligarch tells us that Athens’s trade vastly improved as their Empire increased; therefore acting as a cause of conflict as Athens would want to improve their economy which could only be done by engaging in conflict with other city states. The Old Oligarch is reasonably reliable as it is a piece of archaeological evidence which was supposedly written by Xenophon.
The significance of the Ionian Revolt also dictated and contributed to the course of other battles that followed the revolt due to the new discoveries the states made of their opposing armies. Also, the potential economic and social consequences of the Ionian Revolt should be accounted for. Therefore, the significance of the Ionian Revolt can be argued to be both crucial, yet minor in some aspects. It can be argued that the Ionian Revolt played a significant role in regards to acting as a catalyst for the Persian War that would follow. Herodotus notes that when Darius was told of the Athenians’ actions in Sardis, he vowed to punish those who were to blame and he instructed the servant to recite ‘Sire, remember the Athens.’ Thus, Herodotus alludes that the implications of the Ionian Revolt acted as a spark to ignite the hatred and seek for revenge in Darius to the Athenians which can be reflected by the Persian Wars.
Hellenic Athens and Sparta The barbaric stereotypes people think of when referring to the Spartan society makes the Athenian civilization seem to correspond to our modern society. However, the savage imagery we conceive of the Spartans prevents the exploration of their civility. Even though they did have an extremely militaristic state of mind, they also had an incredibly well organized government system. Politically, socially, and culturally, the two Hellenic city-states of Greece had many differences, but simultaneously were very similar. In the eighth century B.C.E., Hellenic Athens was an oligarchic government.
At the time of democratic Athens a very influential figure took the chance of becoming a king in a democratic society, Pericles in some ways he achieved what he set out to do, Pericles had a great influence on the Athenian democracy, a great example of his influence is his funeral oration or his famed building programme. Athens may have let a power hungry noble slip through its wise fingers but Athens would never let an inferior get close to partaking in political ‘meetings.’ Athenian
Spartan’s role in the infamous battle of Thermopylae was one of great importance; I have stated before how they were ‘successful’, the reason I used this word is because they were successful in their objective in stalling the Persian invasion. this can be seen from Herodotus when he says that when the Hellen’s witnessed the Persian army, Leonidas supposedly suggested having the idea of sending the majority of troops back to their designated city states to call for reinforcement while the Spartans and select others stay and help defend. Therefore the Spartans and allies were successful in their attempt to hold the Persians back from The Hot Gates. The second reason they managed to beat back the Persians for days on end was because their spears were balanced perfectly and much longer, in comparison to the Persians who were “using shorter spears than the Greeks and having no advantage in their numbers” this shows how the military background of the Spartan infantry helped them in beating back the Persians, who had hardly any military background as
His decision for expressing these words is mainly based on historical facts. King Archidamus claims that if their unprepared population decides to ignore these facts, it will bring a greater harm to their population. In contrast, their foe, the Athenians have access to a variety of essential resources such as, a strong navy and their numerous tax-paying allies allows them to achieve a higher chance of victory at war. (1.80). Therefrom, due to these important facts, the wise king Archidamus strongly encourages their population to postpone their attack and to prepare their army instead.
How did geography, environment, and contacts with other peoples shape the institutions and values of Persians and Greeks? In both ancient Persia and Greece, societies originated in areas of land with poor resources. Ancient Iran was an arid, harsh land with little water, and so a strong central authority was required to organize the resources and manpower to adapt to the environment. The Persians gained their power and eventually their empire through the overthrowing of a Median monarch. The Greeks, however, were located on a peninsula and had easy access to foreign peoples and markets abroad over the Aegean Sea.
Thucydides’ work, however, was not simply a book written about Athens as the protagonist which was defeated by its foolish over-ambition, he wrote about the Athenians and Spartans with similar objectivity, acknowledging both their weaknesses and virtues. Thucydides regularly demonstrated a “determination to establish what happened and why”. He believed one of the primary reasons for the decline of Athens was because of the political problems with democracy and selfish imperialism. Whilst he used facts to support this belief, he expressed it most directly when quoting speeches. I will examine the purpose of Thucydides’ work by assessing his omissions, the events he chooses to focus on more closely, and his own analysis of his work.
Pericles skipped over the greater achievements of Athens’ past and indicated that it was a theme too well known by his listeners to dwell upon at that time of misfortune. Instead, he primarily aimed to focus on “the road by which we reached our position, the form of government under which our greatness grew, and the national habits out of which it sprang." The speech was not necessarily a glorification of Athens’ achievements; it was a ritualized formality to the Athenian soldiers that fell during the battle of the Peloponnesian War and used to enlighten the spirits of the state still at war. The Peloponnesian War was fought by the empire of Athens against the Peloponnesian area led by Sparta. The war has been conventionally separated into three
His decisive victory did not just come down to pure luck, however; both Alexander and his Persian opponent Darius had painstakingly made preparations in order to ensure that his numerical superiority could be used to its full advantage. The tactics of Alexander must also be taken into consideration when pondering on his victory. Perhaps the most important immediate outcome for Alexander was that he finally got to fulfil both his and his father’s desire to occupy the Persian Empire, as he moved into Babylon. Although the precise location of Gaugemela is not certain, Darius began the preparations firstly with the choosing of the location for the battle; he picked a flat plain, where he could ultimately use his forces to the best of their abilities, at the base of a hill. He then continued to level out the plain so it was now flat, in preparation for his scythed chariots, whose advantage would be that they could cut the opposing forces in half with their blades or at least make holes in the opposing forces.